Tailors in the Azad Kashmir region have staged a protest demonstration with their sewing machines against power companies over escalating costs of energy and additional taxes on electricity bills.

Inflated electricity bills have triggered nationwide protests that continued on Thursday for the fifth consecutive day.

In AJK’s Bagh district, the Tailors Association, traders and members of civil society staged a joint protest. They shouted slogans against overbilling and demanded free electricity. During a protest on Wednesday, the tailor carried their sewing machines.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s capital city of Peshawar, businesses were closed on Thursday to register protest against inflated electricity bills.

In Karachi where traders and residents have been protesting for day the business community has announced a strike on September 1. Traders in Sindh’s Tando Allahyar will observe a strike on Saturday.

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar ul Haq Kakar had ordered on August 27, that ‘emergency measures’ should be taken to solve electricity theft across the country. However, the interim government has failed to announce any relief.

In a bid to provide relief to the masses, the government is preparing to send a written plan to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) seeking the fund’s nod for a change in the tariff and taxes.

Under the agreement with the global loan lender, the government has withdrawn subsidies for electricity consumers. Consequently, residential consumers received inflated electricity bills in August.